Welcome to the Story Bistro blog!
Our most recent posts have been cued up for your enjoyment. This month, our focus is on blooming and deepening our online relationships.
(See the footer at the bottom of this page to browse by category.)
Go Old School: Have a Real Conversation
This post is part of the 30-Day Bloom Your Online Relationships Challenge. If you'd like to play along, you can sign up here (don't worry -- it's FREE). We're all working through these small, powerful actions together and sharing our questions, learnings and...
read more
Perform a Random Act of Kindness
This post is part of the 30-Day Bloom Your Online Relationships Challenge. If you'd like to play along, you can sign up here (don't worry -- it's FREE). We're all working through these small, powerful actions together and sharing our questions, learnings and...
read more
Add Your Secret Sauce: Five Ways to Add Your Personality to Your Website or Blog
Bad Table Manners: 39 Ways to Kill Valuable Business Relationships
No man is an island. -- John Donne You've probably heard the Golden Rule of Sales: that folks only do business with those they know, like and trust. It's true. The Better Business Bureau's Standards of Trust are built on this maxim. Luckily, most of my business...
read more
Just Say No to “Fast Food” Marketing: 10 Tips for Healthy Marketing on a Budget
When you're really hungry, it's easy to opt for fast-food. It's cheap and it's quick, and it gets the job done. But a Whopper isn't beef bourguignon. There's about a 2-hour difference in the time it takes to create them. The Whopper costs a whole lot less because The...
read more
Expressing Brand Values: 3 Case Studies
...Three French Hens! It's Day 3 of the 12 Days of Branding. If you missed any of the series thus far, you can find them here. In today's installment I give you three examples of small business brands with solid core values that know how to walk the talk. Brand values...
read more
Create a Truly Memorable Brand Story: 8 Tips to Help You Get the Most Impact
8 Maids a-Milking It’s Day 8 of the 12 Days of Branding. If you missed any of the series thus far, you can find them here. In today’s installment we look at unexpected ways to build an impactful and memorable brand. You've heard the phrase, "Milking it," right? It...
read more
Boost Awareness by Piggybacking on a Bigger Brand
Earlier this week, I talked with Abe and Rick of Ruzuku.com -- an online platform created to make it "ridiculously easy" to teach better classes on the web. Ruzuku first came onto my radar when Abe posted this question on my "It's All About YOU" post: A marketing...
read more
The PB&J Guide to Building a Tasty Brand
Peanut Butter and Jelly. Two simple, timelessly appealing ingredients. Like most of us, you probably became a fan in childhood. Of the PB&J, I mean. I know it was the only thing my little brother would eat. Period. White bread, creamy peanut butter and grape jelly...
read more
The Great Email Experiment (or, Why Your Inbox is the Best Social Media Channel to Grow Your Biz)
Last month, a couple of folks I know (yep...Carney folks!) were lamenting the fact that there seemed to be an unusual number of people unsubscribing -- or, worse! complaining about SPAM -- every time they sent an email to their lists. Feelings of panic, fear and...
read more
We’re All Guinea Pigs Now: Life and Business as Continual Experiments
A guest post by Zeus Yiamouyiannis. What if, underneath it all, your carefully planned and wished-for life was nothing more than an adventurous experiment? Would that free you or strike terror into your heart? What if you were both the guinea pig and the dude in the...
read more
In Favor of Slow Marketing
Most small biz owners like us usually want things to happen NOW. More customers NOW. More leads, more fans, more followers faster, cheaper, NOW. We live in an instant-gratification society, so a knee-jerk reaction for NOW should come as no surprise. After all, you...
read more
How To Write Fun and Engaging Survey Questions
This is a guest post by Josh Pigford Did you know that online surveys don't have to be boring? Gathering feedback is a necessary part of running a business, but the process doesn't necessarily have to be dull. Instead, surveys can be fun, engaging platforms where...
read more
Needs and Desires: How to Use a Focus Group to Uncover the Good Stuff
Stuck in research land again? Trying to get inside the mind of your Ideal Client? Maybe you've heard about this thing called a "focus group" and you thought, Yeah, that's what we need to do! Mmmm. Perhaps. A focus group can be helpful. It can also take you down a...
read more
What I Wish I’d Known Then about Starting a Business…
Advice for My (Much Earlier, More Naive) Entrepreneurial Self (Note: Much of this post first appeared on the Prosperity's Kitchen website under the title, "An Open Letter to New Entrepreneurs." I've modified the text somewhat.) Hey Girl, I'm really proud of you for...
read more
The Essential Guide to a Basic Business Plan (or, How to Avoid ‘The Tactic Trap’)
This is a guest post by Jessica Oman of Write Ahead. Did you hear the one about the entrepreneur who hired bikini-clad models to market a delicious organic barbecue sauce to moms with young kids? ...Didn't think so. This is a typical example of what I'm calling...
read more
Copy Writing that Sells: The Starter Recipe
This post was originally published on WPProBusiness.com During the Gold Rush, the Boudin family, well known master Bakers from France, came to the San Francisco area. They discovered that the sourdough yeast cultures there were very unique and they eventually became...
read more
6 Ways to Spice Up Your Copy Writing and Sell Without Even a Dash of Hype
This is a guest post by Marcia Yudkin If you hate screaming headlines, exaggerations and a hard sell, you may find it hard to know how to write copy that presents you and your offerings in an interesting way. Simply describing what you do in no-frills fashion may seem...
read more
The Goldlilocks Zone: How Many Times Should You Share Your Offer?
Julia leaned back in her chair and watched her laptop power-up. Coffee. It was 5:42 in the morning. And coffee was about the only coherent thought she could muster. She opened her Google calendar. What time is that appointment again? She had a 10:30 call with a...
read more
Is Your Ideal Client Trying to Tell You Something?
Last month in the Digital Dining Room we focused on Market Research. Specifically, how the heck do you find out what your Ideal Client is ready and willing to pay for? Because there's a difference between them needing and wanting something. Traditional business folks...
read more
Case Study: Create a Content Strategy to Support Your Launch
Last month in the Digital Dining Room, the group's mission was to identify their main business goal for the final quarter of the year and then to develop a content strategy to support it. Here's how we got them there: Step One: Brainstorm ideas using a mindmap. Start...
read more
How Well Do You Tell Your Brand’s Story?
This past weekend I attended (via simulcast) Andrea Lee's Lasting Lead Generation event. It was three days of fabulous teaching, coaching and delivery of actionable content. And I gotta say, she really knows her stuff! One of the first exercises she had us do was to...
read more
17 Unique Ways to Turn Your Blog Readers into Loyal Fans
Sure. You read all the best blogs about blogging. Your content sparkles. Your design is flawless. You've optimized for SEO and ticked off the long list of best practices. You've fine-tuned every aspect of your site. And you've got passion, damn it. It’s all humming...
read more
Case Study: Using Email Marketing to Deepen Relationships
Last month in the Digital Dining Room, the group's mission was to create a welcome email that would help them get to know their subscribers on a deeper level. Here's how we got them there: Step One: Brainstorm three questions they could ask a new subscriber...
read more
Be a Chef: a Manifesto for Entrepreneurs
Remember the Day You Said Yes to Your Dream? You hung out your shingle, launched a website and did plenty of other business-starting-activities. Bet you never said, "I can't wait to create average, boring, standard work." Me either. The following ideas guide me as an...
read more
How to Attract Your Perfect Customers (and Keep Them Coming Back for More)
What was the last purchase you absolutely loved? See it in your mind's eye. Feel the feelings (again) of finding it, buying it, using it. I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours... For me, one of the best ways to spend money is at my local Farmers' Market. It's not...
read more
A Surprising Way to Fix the Drawbacks of Digital Marketing (and Find New Clients)
I have a confession. I used to think I was an extrovert. After all, I've never had qualms about speaking in public. I've never felt anxiety around being the new kid in the room. And there was a time in my self-employed career when I was sure that my perfect job would...
read more